College of Education

Montana Center for Inclusive Education

OPI Special Education Endorsement Project

General Information

The OPI Special Education Endorsement Project began in 1987 to address the shortage
of special education teachers in rural Montana.

Criteria for Acceptance

In order to serve the whole state of Montana, only one application from a district
may be eligible for admission during the fiscal year. Applications submitted by September
1 will be given priority.

The school district or special education cooperative must have advertised the special
education vacancy statewide on the Montana Jobs-for-Teachers website for a minimum
of one month: http://jobsforteachers.mt.gov/

The district must state that no special education endorsed applicants applied for
the position.

The teacher must hold a Class 1 or 2 Montana Teaching Certificate and have been offered
a contract for the advertised special education teaching position.

All teachers admitted to the project need a mentor for their first year and the district
should identify the mentor. The mentor should have three years of teaching in special
education and have completed training in mentoring. This training can be through
their school district or through OPI training modules. If there is no mentor available
within the district, then arrangements to locate a mentor will be made with the Project
Coordinator.

The teacher must complete their special education endorsement within three years of
their project acceptance date. This includes one semester of student teaching in their
own classroom.

Teachers admitted to the project must hold a special education teaching position in
Montana public schools for two years after obtaining the special education endorsement

Copies of unofficial transcripts from all universities the applicant has attended
which confirms the semester of student teaching and degree or degrees

Plan of Study from the participating Institution of Higher Education

Stipends are available to teachers accepted into the project to offset the cost of
tuition and fees and are dispersed based on the number of credits completed during
a semester.

Applications to the OPI Special Education Project will be reviewed in the order in
which they are submitted, as there is limited availability for places in the project.
Applications must be submitted by September 1 to be given priority consideration.

Once accepted, the teacher will be required to sign a contract with OPI that stipulates
the following:

Should the teacher fail to complete the required coursework to obtain the special
education endorsement within three years from the date of the Agreement, the teacher
will be required to repay the stipends to OPI.

Should the teacher fail to complete the required two years of service in a Montana
school, the teacher will repay all sums paid by the OPI under the Agreement.